


xxxi; A Halloween Miracle

by Theo_Thaur



Series: 31 Days of TUA Whump [31]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Apocalypse (Umbrella Academy), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apocalypse is resolved at the end of S1, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Halloween, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:47:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27315760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theo_Thaur/pseuds/Theo_Thaur
Summary: Whumptober 2020 submission. No 31. "TODAY’S SPECIAL: TORTURE": Left for Dead. ...Alt 7. (Bonus) Found Family.-----After being woken from a nightmare, Five joins a Halloween party with his family.
Relationships: The Hargreeves Family
Series: 31 Days of TUA Whump [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951234
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	xxxi; A Halloween Miracle

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGERS: (italicized/beginning section) gore, open-ended cannibalism, starvation. (Non-italicized section) slasher film references, mentioned recovery from addiction, brief innuendo.

_xxxi; A Halloween Miracle_

_His fingers tore at rocks, Five had strained to leverage his body up against larger chunks of intact brick, nearly throwing out his back. So this time he tried to work more strategically, stepping up into piles and tossing bricks over his shoulder, as he looked for food. His ankles took the brunt of the uneven surface, nearly twisting on many occasions as he stripped the very pile he stood on, of surrounding material, weakening the already weak foundation beneath his feet. At some point during these days, scanvaging as the sun beat down on his neck --if he didn't find a body that sent him into a shock and made him forget about his hunger--, it all began to feel useless. He was moving bricks and rubble out of one pile, looking for food, and throwing the debris behind himself. But those bricks would accumulate behind him, morphing into another pile he'd have to work through another day, in the search for food. It was like one big sandbox; digging holes might change the sculpt of the sand around him, but the displaced sand would always exist in the same box. If only life could be like that, moving around but never melting into thin air, always present. If there was more life somewhere, it wasn't in his world._

_He constantly sabotaged a future version of himself, putting a greater barrier between future him and food. Five did this knowingly, but didn't mind it because he could no longer envision living to see a week in the future._

_He fixated on that hopelessness, the solitude. He'd betrayed himself by jumping too far, bringing himself to the ruins to play a foul game --live, or die trying. It was survival of the fittest but he suddenly had to reckon with the fact that he wasn't strong enough to push piles of brick away, nor could he fight invisible problems. The academy had never prepared them for a life-or-death situation where they wouldn't have food and a bed, and a mother to tend to them._

_Five saw himself, fingers rubbing raw as he clutched at jagged bricks, the skin under his fingernails dark and bruised from having been crushed before. He felt an animalistic hunger in his stomach, a strong sense of basic need to keep going. He hurled more over his shoulder, pushing against a pile --a vortex-- that seemed to go on infinitely, though Five never seemed to get deeper. When one brick was removed, three more tumbled down to replace it. He didn't care, Five was trying to break past the churning, a Pavlov's Dog always searching for the reward at the end. He was practically salivating over the chance that he wouldn't be as hungry during the night, that he might not have to force himself to sleep with an empty stomach._

_His fingers finally felt something. Soft, smooth? Pliable. Maybe bread, or over-ripened fruit. Five pulled away the last remaining bricks, leaning in. His stomach gurgled, and it finally came to light. Gray, with peach fuzz. Frowning, he cleared away a few more surrounding pieces, until he saw fingers. Five got out the crouch he'd sustained, taking a few steps back. The feeling of shock was so strong. Although he'd seen bodies before, and should've guessed, it was like his mind kept looping back to that fear, as well as his hunger._

\------*´｡*ﾟ

"Psst. Five. Five?" A hand tapped at his shoulder, he opened his eyes, immediately trying to push through the film of sleep over his mind as he always did, which was considerably easier because he hadn't been very restful. He sat up in bed, before looking over at Luther.

"Yes? Do you need something?" he asked expectantly, that feeling of deep fear still in his gut. Although he knew that it had just been a dream, obviously, there was residual emotion. It had centered around a portion of his life that was still very raw.

"I mean, you were taking a nap but, party's started?" Luther replied hesitantly. It clicked, and Five nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Right," he said, remembering that they'd planned to hold a party to celebrate Halloween, as well as it being essentially half a year since they'd caused the apocalypse to stop. Not explicitly, but it was part of the cause for celebration --getting to live a normal life. Or close to normal. Seeing Ben summoned in the theater, Vanya had been so shocked by the presence of her dead brother that she'd briefly stopped, not wanting revenge or death --particularly not in front of him. Ben had talked her down. "Can you give me a few minutes?" Luther nodded, stepping out of his bedroom and closing the door behind himself. It had been strange the first few months living in his childhood bedroom, a lot had changed since he'd last stepped foot there. Five had started with dusting, but had left most of the things from his childhood --posters, books, drawings-- in the room, though he had better organized it. Five was alright with everyone thinking he was too lazy to switch his room up, or that he didn't know how to furnish a room (the second was sort of true). He liked things the way he'd left them, they'd stay that way until he decided he was ready for a change. 

Standing in the front of the mirror --the sides of which were covered in old sticky notes-- Five ran a hand through his hair, deciding to go a little more relaxed and leave his blazer off. He figured he'd already get grief for not wearing a more interesting costume. Vanya had left a Halloween mask at the corner of his bed, having come in earlier while he'd still been awake, to offer a little bit of cheer. She'd been right about his lack of plans to dress up. Five took the mask, thinking it was a little garish, but holding it in front of himself in the mirror. He sighed, giving up as if someone else had been there to goad him into it, and slipping it over his face. Hard plastic was sculpted to try and look like fur. Fake lips pulled back to reveal sharp teeth, in a cheap, mass-produced rendition of a snarl. 

Supposedly he was a wolf, or a werewolf. Trying to not feel too much like a child, Five came down from the attic to see that the party had already begun in what was essentially their living room. A lot of the antique lamps and such had been turned on, casting an interesting, fragmented glow. A few candles were lit, smelling of cedar and probably so nice as to only have been a contribution of Allison's. Five smiled a little when he noticed someone had gone through the trouble of slapping an adhesive moustache over his portrait. Silly, yes, maybe enough to possibly ruin that portrait, but he didn't mind. Ben had already had his memorial statue ruined on the day of the funeral, it was about time to let go of the past. Klaus must've convinced Luther to give him a boost up, Five watched as Luther picked Klaus up and held up high enough to secure party hats to all the taxidermied wall mounts. Diego was nowhere to be seen, Allison and Vanya were on the couch chatting. Ben was there too. Five tried not to stare, but he couldn't really help it. He'd read about Ben's death in _'Extra-Ordinary: My Life as Number Seven'_ , and mourned through the pages that Vanya had laid out detailing it. Five had gotten adjusted to Ben's death, to some extent, but there he was. His body rippled slightly, to Five's eyes appearing blue like the surge of powers, but he was there nonetheless, casually observing. Five had seen Ben on a few occasions so far, but usually not with nearly so much of the family around. He had to imagine it must be overwhelming to have been dead for so long, and to then be surrounded by people that could see him, and wanted to talk. 

Luther finally set Klaus down once every stuffed antelope and ram had a orange and black striped party hat. "Five!" Vanya said, smiling, which caused him to look away from the safety hazard that had been Luther and Klaus working together. He approached her and Allison. Vanya had on a Frankenstein's monster mask, and wore a corresponding fuzzy green sweater. Allison on the other hand seemed to be dressed like a cat, with silky black furs (faux, knowing her) draped over her shoulders and a pair of cat ears on --a bit more glamorous, but still fairly practical. He sat down on the couch opposite them.

"How're you liking the party?" Vanya asked.

"Well…" Five looked around, eyes tracing over the adhesive bats, stuck to the large glass windows. "I think it's nice," he settled on, serious.

"I made virgin mary syringes and mockmosas," Allison informed him cheerily, sipping on an orange-yellow drink in an oddly-shaped glass.

"Ah, even better then," Five said, attempting a small joke, to which they both chuckled. Allison had been Five's semi-frequent drinking partner, though they usually made their own or smuggled in something from the liquor store (she was his ticket to getting alcohol because she had ID), since Allison got recognized in bars. It didn't need to be said, but the drinks were fake during the party to encourage Klaus' sobriety, and not jeopardize Ben's place in the celebration.

"You wore the mask I got you," Vanya noted, smiling warmly. 

"Ugh, Klaus really? We are _not_ listening to _'The Time Warp'_ again _'_ " Ben loudly protested. It seemed like sometimes he forgot other people could hear him, not just Klaus. 

"Yes we are!" he protested, and soon enough that song replaced whatever had been on before. Klaus seemed very content to put it on, Allison laughed, pinching the bridge of her nose as if exhausted by hearing it again. Luther, dressed like some sort of old-fashioned pilot --flight goggles and all-- bobbed his head to the music, but Klaus was the only one really dancing to it, mouthing the words in time. Klaus was also dressed like a cat, which Five suspected had been planned between Allison and him. His outfit was a little more excessive, he'd sprayed glitter in his hair and wore the lace-up pants, along with a cheetah print crop top, a black ascot, and eyeliner whiskers. Eventually the song ended, switching into a tune about a monster mash. Diego came into the room from the direction of the kitchen, putting down a dish on the coffee table, followed out by Grace, who also set down a large bowl. The bowl was brimming with popcorn, and the dish carried several caramel apples. It wasn't much of a dinner, and when Diego came out with another plate, this time of pumpkin cookies, Five didn't think he'd be having a particularly nutritional dinner. Everyone swarmed over to the food, with the exception of Ben who followed behind. Klaus made a bee-line for the popcorn. 

"I think this needs more butter," he commented.

"Really?" Luther took a large handful, chewing, before agreeing. "Yeah, think so too."

"It does _not_ need more butter," Diego asserted, coming out from the kitchen. "If anything you two need less butter in your diet." He held a small, personal plate of stir-fry. 

"Nah. Stop trying to put mom on the health settings, Luther and I are trying to fix this family," Klaus replied, picking up the bowl and skipping off towards the kitchen, with Luther in tow. Diego sighed. He wore just his domino mask and all-black, taking a page out of his younger self's book by going as The Kraken for Halloween.

"At least now that the two worst decision makers are gone, we can talk movies," Diego gestured towards a television atop a wheeled cart. "Al let me borrow it for the weekend, sometimes we play fitness tapes at the gym. It was a lot of work getting it here so we're going to watch something tonight."

"Yes! And I was on movie duty," Allison said, setting down her drink to go off to the side of the room, picking up a stack of tapes. She shuffled through them in her hands, "we've got _'A Nightmare on Elm Street', 'Ghostbusters', 'Halloween'._.."

"What's _'Halloween'_ about?" Five asked, thinking that was a stupid name for a film. 

"Oh, it's about this mental patient that escapes and goes back to his hometown to kill," she explained, having turned the box over just to be sure. Five frowned, not that it could be seen through the mask. He wasn't exactly in the mood to watch something about murder and death, but maybe it was unreasonable to pose that kind of a demand. It would all probably be corny and the special effects would pale in comparison to what he'd done in real life. Five would _know_ it was fake, but… He looked over at Vanya, their eyes meeting briefly.

"Uhm, I don't know if this is unreasonable… but could we not watch a movie about killing people?" she asked. Allison seemed taken back but she nodded after a moment.

"We could watch _'Ghostbusters'_ then," she offered.

"Did someone say… ghost?" Klaus asked, appearing in the hallway beside Luther, the large tub of popcorn in hand. 

"Oh, actually that's a good point. Klaus, would you be okay watching this?" Allison held the box up. Klaus laughed.

"So now you're comparing poor Benny to Slimer?" he joked, a reference Five didn't get.

"No, I'm not," Allison said, looking between them. Ben rolled his eyes.

"Actually I love that movie," he announced, striding into the room and setting down the freshly buttered popcorn. "Someone's going to have to comfort me through that scene with the marshmallow man though. Such beautiful creamy thighs!" he cooed. 

"I've never seen that movie but I'm voting against it, just for that," Diego said flatly.

"You're no fun!" Klaus complained.

"How have you _never_ seen it?" Allison asked.

Diego didn't seem bothered, eating his stir fry a moment, before giving an answer. "Crime rates spike on Halloween. I've always been busy. You're lucky I'm spending my time here."

"Okay, wait, how many of us have celebrated this within the last few _years_?" Allison asked, looking around. Klaus raised his hand quickly, Ben made a so-so gesture, since he'd followed Klaus around during however Klaus celebrated the holiday. Luther kept his hand down, because he'd been in space. Naturally, Five hadn't really celebrated either. Holidays weren't big in the Commission because it was difficult to track of time there, though he had once intercepted a Halloween party in nineteen eighty-four for a job. Vanya also kept her hand down, she didn't really have an excuse but Five assumed it was because she hadn't had a bunch of people to party with. "Wow, this is very, very sad…" Allison said, looking around the room.

"I know! Now I get why my Slimer joke didn't land," Klaus answered.

"No killing, no _'Ghostbusters',_ what does that leave?" Five asked. Allison looked through the selection of tapes, frowning. 

"There's a Halloween special on this one," she offered, holding up a Charlie Brown tape. 

"I'm not watching a _kid's_ movie instead of fighting crime," Diego replied firmly.

"How's it a kid's movie if we never watched it as kids?" Klaus answered, before popping a piece of popcorn into his mouth. 

"That's a stupid argument," Diego huffed. "Right?" He looked around the room. Vanya shrugged, Luther and Allison seemed similarly unbothered. 

"Right," Ben agreed.

"It's the only thing we've got left. That or nothing," Five pointed out, which settled the argument. Diego tried to go about setting up the television to actually work in their ancient home, which was a complete struggle that Five oversaw. They tried to find a power source for a few minutes, before Vanya stood up, walking over to the television. 

"Can I try?" she asked. Diego gave her a confused look, but handed her the power cable. Vanya closed her eyes, focusing in as a song about a town of Halloween played through the radio. 

"Hold on what do you think you're--?" Diego was cut off as a burst of white energy flowed from Vanya's hands. Diego took a step away from her, bracing his hands over his head, and all the side chatter cut off. 

The television turned on, and Vanya put down the cord. Everyone looked around, various levels of confusion and shock. Vanya chuckled.

"Well," Klaus said softly. "It's a Halloween miracle!" he exclaimed. Luther hastened to pick up the couches, arranging them to face the same way in front of the coffee table. The unplugged television was wheeled out in front of the couches. Klaus disappeared for a few minutes and reappeared with blankets and extra pillows.

When everything was ready, they all sat down, squeezing together --somehow Ben even had his own space. The opening scene of _'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'_ began to play. 

"I can't believe you put _that_ much butter in the popcorn," Diego complained. The bowl was almost permanently on Luther's lap since he ate the most popcorn, though it would sometimes be passed down the line of couches. Despite his comment, Diego still took popcorn when offered, and would reach for it. Allison and Klaus had at some point started chatting over the movie, Klaus had got up and brought all the drinks over a few minutes in. Five lifted his mask up and put it beside the couch, and shortly after Vanya followed suit. He munched on a soft sugar cookie, smirking a little just because Diego had taken to passionately yelling at Charlie Brown to get his act together and stop feeling sorry for himself. Vanya began to quietly explain parts to Ben that had gotten talked over, since she'd actually seen the special alone on Halloween before. Ben seemed happy to listen, and be spoken to. 

Having the feeling that he was being watched, Five turned, looking out behind the couch. It was just Grace and Pogo, passively watching the family back together again. Everyone was getting along for once, there was peace and safety and a mutual calm. Five shared a knowing look with Pogo, both of them seasoned and especially knowledgeable in the ways of the Hargreeves.

He turned away eventually, and Five took a blanket, snuggling into the warmth and leaning against Luther's side. At some point the bowl of popcorn had been emptied and Luther had begun upon the gaggle of caramel apples; the Halloween special had ended and transitioned into ' _A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.'_ Closing his eyes, the light of the television, the full moon, and the lamps slowly faded. 

**Author's Note:**

> Wow! Phew! I can't believe it's all over. What am I going to fill my all-nighter timeslot with? How well will these fics hold up? No clue. I hope it brings some enjoyment though,   
> and happyy Halloween to those that celebrate!


End file.
